Book of a Thousand Days

When Lady Saren defies her father’s command to marry the vicious Lord Khasar, she is sealed in a tower with only her serving maid, Dashti, for company. In their cramped, dark space Dashti pours her thoughts into a daily journal while pitiless solitude engulfs them. At first the girl is optimistic: they have food aplenty, candles for light, and even a visit from Lady Saren’s true love, Khan Tegus - though he can only call to them from outside their walls. But their circumstances soon grow desperate.

Fairest

Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land - and the most unusual. She can "throw" her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light - especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor.

Peter and the Starcatchers: The Starcatchers, Book 1

In an evocative and fast-paced adventure on the high seas and on a faraway island an orphan boy named Peter and his mysterious new friend, Molly, overcome bands of pirates and thieves in their quest to keep a fantastical secret safe and save the world from evil.

The Enchanted Castle

Jimmy, Gerald, and Cathy discover an enchanted garden and wake a beautiful princess from a hundred-year-sleep - only to have her immediately made invisible by a magic ring. The quest to rescue her from her own magic proves difficult, humorous, and at times very frightening.

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty & the Beast

New York Times best-selling author Robin McKinley has won numerous awards for her writing, including the prestigious Newbery Medal. Though her two sisters are beautiful, Beauty, despite her name, is thin and awkward - but she's also courageous. So when her father makes a terrible promise to a Beast living in an enchanted castle, Beauty knows she must volunteer to be the Beast's prisoner.

Book Scavenger

For 12-year-old Emily, the best thing about moving to San Francisco is that it's the home city of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, book publisher and creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger (a game where books are hidden in cities all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles). Upon her arrival, however, Emily learns that Griswold has been attacked and is now in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch.

Echo

Audie Award, Middle Grade, 2016. Lost and alone in the forbidden Black Forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. Decades later Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each become sinterwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives, binding them by an invisible thread of destiny. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together.

Tuesdays at the Castle

Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one - other than Celie, that is - takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Every year the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been forced into a life of crime. One fateful afternoon, Peter steals a mysterious box that contains three magical pairs of eyes. When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel beyond the known world and rescue a lost kingdom from its treacherous ruler....

Fablehaven, Book 1

For centuries, mystical creatures of all description were gathered to a hidden refuge called Fablehaven to prevent their extinction. The sanctuary survives today as one of the last strongholds of true magic in a cynical world. Enchanting? Absolutely. Exciting? You bet. Safe? Well, actually, quite the opposite... Kendra and her brother Seth have no idea their grandfather is the current caretaker of Fablehaven.

Mary Poppins: The Mary Poppins Series, Book 1

Here is the timeless story of Mary Poppins, the world's favorite nanny, and her magical adventures with the Banks family. Mary Poppins is like no other nanny the Banks children have ever seen. It all starts when their new nanny is blown by the east wind onto the doorstep of the Banks house, carrying a parrot-headed umbrella and a magic carpetbag. She becomes a most unusual nanny to Jane, Michael, and the twins.

Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends

At Ever After High, an enchanting boarding school, the children of fairytale legends prepare themselves to fulfill their destinies as the next generation of Snow Whites, Prince Charmings and Evil Queens...whether they want to or not. Each year on Legacy Day, students sign the Storybook of Legends to seal their scripted fates. For generations, the Village of Book End has whispered that refusing to sign means The End-both for a story and for a life.

All-of-a-Kind Family

It's the turn of the 20th century in New York's Lower East Side and a sense of adventure and excitement abounds for five young sisters. Follow along on their adventures and experience their holiday fun.

Jonathan Cotton says:"I love it and it will help me to get my room cleaned up! 👚👗👖👙👠👠👢👢👡👡👟👟👛👜👝👒💄🌂🕶🏸🏀🏅🎖🎨🎤🎻🎯🎬📱⌚️💻📷📼📺📠"

Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus

Being able to detect black magic isnt all tea and crumpetsand for Theodosia Throckmorton, it can be a decidedly tricky business! When Sticky Will drags Theo to a magic show featuring the Great Awi Bubu, she quickly senses there is more to the magician than he lets on, setting in motion a chain of events she never could have bargained for.

Swallowdale: Swallows and Amazons Series

For anyone who loves sailing and adventure, Arthur Ransome's classic Swallows and Amazons series stands alone. Originally published in the UK over a half century ago, these books are still eagerly read by children, despite their length and their decidedly British protagonists.

Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel: Tyme, Book 1

In all of Tyme, from the Redlands to the Grey, no one is as lucky as Rapunzel. She lives in a magic tower that obeys her every wish; she reads wonderful books starring herself as the heroine; her hair is the longest, most glorious thing in the world. And she knows this because Witch tells her so - her beloved Witch, who protects her from evil princes, the dangerous ground under the tower, even unhappy thoughts. Rapunzel can't imagine any other life. Then a thief named Jack climbs into her room to steal one of her enchanted roses.

A Face Like Glass

In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare - wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer, even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned, and only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show (or fake) joy, despair or fear - at a price.

The Once and Future King

The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".

The Star of Kazan

In early 20th-century Vienna, Annika is raised by Ellie and Sigrid, a cook and housemaid for a household of three professors. Abandoned when she was a baby, Annika dreams of the day her mother will come back to claim her. Then one day, it happens. A glamorous woman arrives and sweeps Annika away to a crumbling castle in Germany. But there is much more to this new woman than meets the eye - and none of it is good.

Matilda

"The Trunchbull" is no match for Matilda! Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It'll take a superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves and Matilda may be just the one to do it!

Swallows and Amazons

Swallows and Amazons, the book that started it all in 1930, introduces the Walker family, the camp on Wild Cat Island, the able-bodied catboat "Swallow," and the two intrepid Amazons, plucky Nancy and Peggy Blackett.

Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris

Theodosia Throckmorton is in a fix. Allowed to attend a reception given by one of the directors of her parents museum, she stumbles across Mr. Tetley of the British Museum in most unusual circumstances! Since Theo has last seen him in a showdown in an ancient Egyptian tomb, his reappearance could mean only one thing: the Serpents of Chaos are back.

Seeking Persephone

When Persephone Lancaster receives a marriage proposal from the ill-tempered Duke of Kielder, she refuses - and then reconsiders. The obscene sum of money he's offering Persephone would save her family from ruin. With her characteristic optimism, she travels to the far reaches of Northumberland to wed a greatly feared stranger. Lodged deep in a thick forest infested with wild dogs, the Duke's castle is as cold and forbidding as the Duke himself, a man with terrible scars on his body and his soul.

Publisher's Summary

It’s been two years since Enna was swept up in a heart-pounding court adventure. Now, having returned to her old life in the forests of Bayern, she is growing restless. When a strange force takes possession of her brother, Liefer, she returns to the capital to seek the help of her friend Isi, Bayern’s princess. But Bayern is tottering on the verge of war with neighboring Tira. When endowed with the terrifying gift that destroyed Liefer, Enna takes herself to war - only to embark on an epic journey of discovery and betrayal that will force her to come of age.

Shannon Hale’s fiery companion to her acclaimed retelling of The Goose Girl is dark, intricate, deeply passionate, and ultimately triumphant. Listeners, whether returning to Bayern or making their first visit, will find themselves enthralled.

Would you consider the audio edition of Enna Burning to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version, but I'm not a huge fan of a "full cast recording," especially when one of the main readers, the boy who plays Finn has a speech impediment. His s is overpronounced and sometimes pronounced with an sh sound so that "yes" comes out "yesh" or "yeth." It was incredibly distracting.

What did you like best about this story?

I don't really know how to answer this. The Goose Girl is based on a fairy-tale and I think that format helps Hale quite a bit. When departing from the fairy-tale, she sometimes becomes lost. This book had a lot of battles and therefore a lot of repetition. Once Enna is captured by the enemy, the story becomes much more personal and interesting. However, I still did not enjoy it as much as the Goose Girl or the Princess Academy series. I don't know whether I'll get the third and fourth books in the Bayern series. I might read them from the library instead since this book was a slight disappointment and only multi-cast recordings are available.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I would rather have listened to a narrator instead of a full-cast recording. A good narrator can create characters. 10-15 people aren't necessary and they're more distracting than anything. I do think this detracted from the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

*Contains Spoilers* The descriptions of the fire calling to Enna to burn. I liked the fact that she saw what happened to her brother and thought she could do the same, but come off unscathed. The author's descriptions were very similar to explaining an addiction.

I also thought the parts with her lover were particularly moving. If anyone has been in a relationship with a manipulative person, or if you've ever read about Stockholm Syndrome, you can relate to what she went through.

Any additional comments?

*Contains Spoilers* If you read or listened to Goose Girl, you remember Enna as a strong and loyal friend. For most of this book, she's a traitorous wench who hops into bed with the first smooth talking man she comes across. It's disgusting to see these changes, particularly because she completely gets away with it in the end.

I would NOT recommend this to young adults. Very intense story of young adult with a strange power that she is fighting with to the point that she torches and kills several people. NOT a good thing for struggling potentially-mentally ill teens to get into their heads!